Max Brenner
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
shop chain. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Strauss Group, Israel’s second-largest food and beverage company. Max Brenner chocolates are marketed as "Chocolate by the Bald Man."
History
Max Brenner was founded in 1996 in Ra'ananaRa'anana
Ra'anana is a city in the heart of the southern Sharon Plain of the Central District of Israel with a population of 68,300, . Ra'anana is bordered by Kfar Sava on the east and Herzliya on the southwest...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, by Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner who combined their names. The business began as a small shop selling handmade chocolates. Oded Brenner had spent six years learning the art of chocolate-making in Paris. By 1999, Fichtman and Brenner had opened ten chocolate shops. In 2001, the company became a part of Strauss Group.
Max Brenner operates chocolate boutiques in Israel, Australia, Philippines, Singapore and the United States. In 2010, a new Max Brenner restaurant and chocolate store opened at Ceasar's Palace, Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. In 2011, another branch opened in Boston.
According to the founders of Max Brenner, "chocolate is not just about taste. It’s a symbol of different aspects in our lives - of romance, of sensuality, of decadence. These aspects actually create the new chocolate culture of Max Brenner." In 2009, Max Fichtman explained the philosophy behind his chocolate enterprise: "Chocolate to me is European so the restaurant is part Parisian cafe. Then I added some 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children's book by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka....
'. I added spices from all over the world that we use to create our chocolates. And then part of it is like a lab - like a drugstore."
Max Brenner chocolates are certified kosher by the Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
Rabbinate.
Menu
Max Brenner restaurants offer a vast array of chocolate-based dishes, but no chocolate based entreés. The chocolate menu includes chocolate waffles and crepes, fondues, ice creams, hot chocolate drinks, smoothies and chocolate martinis. Max Brenner's chocolate pizza was featured in a February 2011 segment of Food NetworkFood Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
's The Best Thing I Ever Ate
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a program on the Food Network which premiered on June 22, 2009 . The program originally aired as a one-time special in late 2008...
/Pizza.
Support for IDF
The Strauss Group's support for the GolaniGolani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
reconnaissance platoon (part of the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
) has made Max Brenner stores a target of the international Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions refers to a campaign first initiated on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause ".....
(BDS) campaign. Activist group, Students for Palestine
Students for Palestine
Students for Palestine is a network of pro-Palestinian student activists based on various Australian university campuses. The group was set up in response to the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict...
have organized a series of protests in 2011 outside Max Brenner outlets in Australia, including one in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
where there were 19 arrests.
The protests have drawn condemnation from Australian Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, who remarked “I don't think in 21st-century Australia there is a place for the attempted boycott of a Jewish business.” In September 2011, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent authority of the Australia government. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority to administer the Trade Practices Act 1974...
said that "the protesters had not broken federal competition law because the protests did not cause substantial loss or damage to the Max Brenner chocolate stores." Some pro-Palestinian organizations including Australians for Palestine have distanced themselves from the protests but have publicly defended the choice of Max Brenner as a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
target. In October 2011, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia said that he is against the "full-scale" BDS campaign, and in particular expressed his anger over the occasionally violent protests at the Max Brenner stores, saying, "BDS is a non-violent process and I don't think it's the right of anybody to use BDS as a violent action or to prevent people from buying from any place."